1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the cleaning of components of a tape player of the cartridge type and more particularly relates to a kit, including a hollow cartridge insertable in a tape player, for effecting the cleaning of the player components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, the use of cartridge-type pre-recorded tapes, and particularly those of the 8-track variety, has become extremely widespread. Along with the convenience and pleasure which these cartridges provide, have come problems which are peculiar to the construction of the playback units.
The playback units of the cartridge-type include playback heads and related structures which are normally mounted in an enclosed location, since the cartridges are positioned for playing by being inserted in a slot-like aperture. It has been found that the playback head, the drive capstan, the sensing pole utilized for switching tracks in an 8-track tape and other related components of the playback unit, which contact the moving tape or which are immediately adjacent to the moving tape, tend to accumulate deposits of Mylar or other tape coating oxides after the devices have been in use over an extended period of time. Such accumulations on the playback head give rise to noise and distortion as the tape is played back. Further, the deposits on the drive capstan often result in slippage of the tape, causing wow and flutter as the tape is being played back, since the playback speed will not be constant.
In the past, cleaning of the tape playback head, the drive capstan and the sensing pole as well as the other related components of the playback unit, required the laborious disassembly of the entire unit in order to gain access to these various parts. Such a procedure was obviously unsatisfactory from the economic standpoint, since it required the services of a skilled maintenance person and was extremely time-consuming. More recently, various other solutions to this problem have been proposed. One of the more common commercially available cleaning devices involves a cartridge having a cleaning tape coated with an abrasive material, substituted for the ordinary magnetic tape. This type of device has proven to be unsatisfactory in many respects among which are the undue wear which it causes on the playback head, the limited area of the drive capstan which it is able to clean, the wear on the drive capstan, and the build-up of foreign material which it causes on either side of the cleaning tape. Other devices of various sorts have also been proposed, but none of these has been entirely successful.
The following patents set forth some of the approaches taken in the prior art to solve the above-noted problem:
______________________________________ 3,439,922 Howard 1969 3,594,850 Wellington 1971 3,647,990 Eul 1972 3,701,178 Kuntz 1972 ______________________________________